Morocco cuts ties with Iran over Bahrain

RABAT, (Reuters) – Morocco has cut diplomatic links with Iran, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry said yesterday, after an outcry in the Sunni Muslim world over a statement by an Iranian official questioning Sunni-ruled Bahrain’s sovereignty.

Rabat also criticised Iran for its efforts to spread its Shi’ite brand of Islam in Morocco, a move the ministry said it saw as threat to the North African country’s moderate Sunni religious identity. “The Kingdom of Morocco has decided to break its diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran beginning this Friday,” the ministry said.

Sunni scholars in Morocco and elsewhere have denounced what they see as Iran’s efforts to convert Sunni Muslims to Shi’ism, arguing the drive would create strife similar to the often bloody Shi’ite-Sunni divides in Iraq and Pakistan.